Modi govt: 36 ministers sworn in for second term, 20 MPs first timers

President Ram Nath Kovind administers oath of office and secrecy to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the second consecutive term during the swearing-in ceremony at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Thursday. (PTI Photo)

New Delhi: Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Smriti Irani, Nirmala Sitharaman and Prakash Javadekar were among the 36 ministers who were sworn in Thursday for a second term, besides 20 MPs who took oath of office as cabinet ministers for the first time.

While 24 cabinet ministers were sworn-in the Modi government, nine took oath as ministers of state (Independent charge) and 24 others as ministers of state. Ten of the newly-inducted ministers are from the Rajya Sabha and 45 are from the Lok Sabha

Home minister in the previous Narendra Modi government, Rajnath Singh was the first to take oath after the prime minister.

Ram Vilas Paswan is not a member of either of the Houses and he has been promised a Rajya Sabha seat.

Hardeep Puri, who is a Rajya Sabha MP, was reinducted into Modi's council of ministers despite losing the Lok Sabha polls.He was given a ticket by the BJP to contest from Amritsar.

Prakash Javadekar who handled four portfolios in the previous regime of the Modi government including Human Resource Development, Environment, Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs, was sworn in for a second term.

Mahendra Nath Pandey, who was appointed as the Minister of State for HRD in the Modi government before he was made president of BJP's Uttar Pradesh unit in 2017, also took oath as a cabinet minister.

Similarly, Faggan Singh Kulaste, a six-time MP from Mandla constituency in Madhya Pradesh, who was Minister of State for Health in the previous government during 2016-17, was inducted in the new council of ministers.

While the inclusion of Amit Shah, seen as BJP's key strategist who helped the party to expand its base after taking over the reins of the party in 2014, was much speculated, former Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, considered close to Modi, was a surprise pick.

Like Paswan, Jaishankar is also not a member of either of the Houses and he will be also fielded as a Rajya Sabha candidate.